Expert Witness

All the news about Roseland town government and its many controversies in recent years slowed jury selection a bit today in the intimidation and battery trial of former Town Council member David Snyder. Snyder is charged with Class D felony intimidation and misdemeanor battery in connection with his alleged assault Jan. 5, 2007, of council member Ted Penn at the Town Hall. As he does with other high-profile cases, such as murders, St. Joseph Superior Judge Jerome Frese ordered the attorneys to divide the 50 prospective jurors into groups of six before bringing them into the courtroom for questioning.

SOUTH BEND -- The South Bend Common Council will vote on a resolution to encourage residents to vote for Sgt. Ray Wolfenbarger in the "America's Most Wanted All-Star" contest. Council member Derek Deiter, who introduced the legislation, said he thought the council would support the motion enthusiastically. "I think it would be a great thing for South Bend and for him to be on" the show, Deiter said of Wolfenbarger. After Wolfenbarger was shot while pursuing a suspect in 2001, doctors gave him a five percent chance of survival.

SOUTH BEND -- County Commissioner Steve Ross doesn't think the county should be awarding expensive contracts to companies that are involved in lawsuits against it. The issue came up Tuesday during the commissioners' weekly meeting. Last week, County Engineer Susan D. Al-Abbas had asked the commissioners to approve two agreements for engineering services for bridge replacement projects. After voting to approve $179,000 for a bridge replacement on Linden Road, Ross realized that the contractor was involved peripherally in a lawsuit against the county commissioners.

NILES -- Convicted teen murderer Dakotah Eliason's attempt to get a new trial based on claims of ineffective counsel has hit a roadblock with a decision by Berrien County Trial Judge Scott Schofield to deny the motion for a new trial. Schofield issued his 20-page opinion Monday and it was made public Tuesday. The matter now goes back to the Michigan Court of Appeals, which had sent the ineffective counsel issue back to Schofield's court for an evidentiary hearing. The evidentiary hearing was held over two days, one in mid-December and one in early February.

NILES -- Convicted teen murderer Dakotah Eliason's attempt to get a new trial based on ineffective counsel claims has hit a roadblock with a decision by Berrien County Trial Judge Scott Schofield to deny Eliason's motion for a new trial. Schofield issued his 20-page opinion Monday and it was made public today. The matter now goes back to the Michigan Court of Appeals which had sent the ineffective counsel issue back to Schofield's court for an evidentiary hearing. The evidentiary hearing was held over two days, one in mid-December and one in early February.

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- A military judge on Friday once again held the Fort Hood shooting suspect in contempt of court for showing up to a pretrial hearing with a beard he had been ordered to shave. Maj. Nidal Hasan, 41, an Army psychiatrist, was fined $1,000 for a second time. The judge, Col. Gregory Gross, then sent Hasan to a nearby trailer to watch the rest of the hearing on closed-circuit television, as he has done since showing up with a beard at a June hearing. Beards are a violation of Army rules.

In 2007, Hubbard was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole despite the fact that his public defense attorney failed to prepare for trial, declined to locate potentially exculpatory witnesses and refused to seek funding to retain expert witnesses he claimed at trial could have cleared his client, according to a news release from the ACLU of Michigan and Campaign for Justice. Upon appeal, the court found that Hubbard's trial attorney had committed serious errors and that his appellate attorney also had failed to contact the experts or locate the witnesses needed to show how the trial attorney's errors had prejudiced Hubbard's case.

CASSOPOLIS - If prosecutors seeking a first-degree murder conviction against Keith Lintz, the Niles man accused of the brutal Feb. 5, 2010, slayings of Niles residents John and Carolyn Tarwacki, have determined a motive for the crime, it's news to his legal counsel. Greg Feldman, Lintz's attorney, argued at a pretrial conference in Cass County Circuit Court today that a motion by special prosecutor Doug Baker to call an expert witness to testify regarding the behavior of people under the influence of methamphetamine was improper.

CASSOPOLIS - If prosecutors seeking a first-degree murder conviction against Keith Lintz, the Niles man accused of the brutal Feb. 5, 2010, slayings of Niles residents John and Carolyn Tarwacki, have determined a motive for the crime, it's news to his legal counsel. Greg Feldman, Lintz's attorney, argued at a pretrial conference in Cass County Circuit Court today that a motion by special prosecutor Doug Baker to call an expert witness to testify regarding the behavior of people under the influence of methamphetamine was improper.

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- A military judge on Friday once again held the Fort Hood shooting suspect in contempt of court for showing up to a pretrial hearing with a beard he had been ordered to shave. Maj. Nidal Hasan, 41, an Army psychiatrist, was fined $1,000 for a second time. The judge, Col. Gregory Gross, then sent Hasan to a nearby trailer to watch the rest of the hearing on closed-circuit television, as he has done since showing up with a beard at a June hearing. Beards are a violation of Army rules.

NILES -- Convicted teen murderer Dakotah Eliason's attempt to get a new trial based on claims of ineffective counsel has hit a roadblock with a decision by Berrien County Trial Judge Scott Schofield to deny the motion for a new trial. Schofield issued his 20-page opinion Monday and it was made public Tuesday. The matter now goes back to the Michigan Court of Appeals, which had sent the ineffective counsel issue back to Schofield's court for an evidentiary hearing. The evidentiary hearing was held over two days, one in mid-December and one in early February.

NILES -- Convicted teen murderer Dakotah Eliason's attempt to get a new trial based on ineffective counsel claims has hit a roadblock with a decision by Berrien County Trial Judge Scott Schofield to deny Eliason's motion for a new trial. Schofield issued his 20-page opinion Monday and it was made public today. The matter now goes back to the Michigan Court of Appeals which had sent the ineffective counsel issue back to Schofield's court for an evidentiary hearing. The evidentiary hearing was held over two days, one in mid-December and one in early February.

In 2007, Hubbard was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole despite the fact that his public defense attorney failed to prepare for trial, declined to locate potentially exculpatory witnesses and refused to seek funding to retain expert witnesses he claimed at trial could have cleared his client, according to a news release from the ACLU of Michigan and Campaign for Justice. Upon appeal, the court found that Hubbard's trial attorney had committed serious errors and that his appellate attorney also had failed to contact the experts or locate the witnesses needed to show how the trial attorney's errors had prejudiced Hubbard's case.

All the news about Roseland town government and its many controversies in recent years slowed jury selection a bit Monday in the intimidation and battery trial of former Town Council member David Snyder. Snyder is charged with Class D felony intimidation and misdemeanor battery in connection with his alleged assault Jan. 5, 2007, of council member Ted Penn at the Town Hall. As he does with other high-profile cases, such as murders, St. Joseph Superior Judge Jerome Frese ordered the attorneys to divide the 50 prospective jurors into groups of six before bringing them into the courtroom for questioning.

SOUTH BEND -- County Commissioner Steve Ross doesn't think the county should be awarding expensive contracts to companies that are involved in lawsuits against it. The issue came up Tuesday during the commissioners' weekly meeting. Last week, County Engineer Susan D. Al-Abbas had asked the commissioners to approve two agreements for engineering services for bridge replacement projects. After voting to approve $179,000 for a bridge replacement on Linden Road, Ross realized that the contractor was involved peripherally in a lawsuit against the county commissioners.

SOUTH BEND -- The South Bend Common Council will vote on a resolution to encourage residents to vote for Sgt. Ray Wolfenbarger in the "America's Most Wanted All-Star" contest. Council member Derek Deiter, who introduced the legislation, said he thought the council would support the motion enthusiastically. "I think it would be a great thing for South Bend and for him to be on" the show, Deiter said of Wolfenbarger. After Wolfenbarger was shot while pursuing a suspect in 2001, doctors gave him a five percent chance of survival.